Toy balloon



A. J. ANNIS TOY BALLOON Filed Oct. 26, 1945 Suncntor attorney PatentedFeb. 24, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY BALLOON Andrew J. Annis,Baltimore, Md.

Application October 26, 1945, Serial No. 624,855

3 Claims.

This invention relates to toy balloons and has for its object to provide'a device of this kind, which comprises an elongated inflatable bodyhaving fins or planes, and which fins act as planes for guiding the bodyas it is propelled through the air after being released from aninflating device and moved forwardly by the rearward discharge of air asit slowly deflates.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of arts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the balloon.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the balloon.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation, showing the restricted air discharge port.V

.Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the rear endof the balloon.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral l designates the elongatedcylindrical ortion of the balloon, the rear end of which terminates in aspherical portion 2 having a rearwardly flared irustooonically shapedinflating and air discharge portion 3. Where the portion 3 merges intothe spherical portion 2 of the balloon, the walls 4 are thickened sothat they will closely and contractibly engage around an inflatingdevice, not shown. The balloon l is provided with vertically disposedguide fins I and side planes 8, so that, when the balloon is under itsown power and exhausting air through the exhaust port 9, the balloonwill be guided toward any target at which it is aimed, and at the sametime will go in a straight line towards its target. Balloon l isprovided with a reinforced nose III, which will protect the relativelythin rubber body from damage,

incident to repeated contact with targets or with the walls in a room.

In use, the inflating device is inserted into the port. and the balloonis inflated. After the mflating operation the balloon is moved oil theinflating tool and the operator, then releases the flared portion 8 frombetween the fingers, which operation will release the balloon and allowthe trapped air within the balloon to escape through the exhaust port 8,thereby propelling the balloon forwardly in the direction aimed.

From the above it will be seen that a balloon is provided, which will beguided'through the air on a selected course and be propelled by theexhaust of air from the balloon,

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as new and usefulis:

1. A self-propelled inflatable balloon comprising an elongated body,means whereby air may exhaust from the rear end of said body forpropelling the balloon, integral guide flns carried by said body forguiding the same in the direction aimed, said guide fins extendinglongitudinally of the body,.said body comprising a. forward cylindricalportion terminating at its rear end in a spherical portion.

2. A self-propelled inflatable balloon comprising an elongatedcylindrical body, said body at its rear end terminating in an enlargedbulbous portion, longitudinally extending flns carried by said body,said flns extending from adjacent the forward end of the body to theforward portion of the bulbular portion and increasing in width towardsthe bulbular portion.

3. A self-propelled inflatable balloon comprising an elongated body,means whereby air may be exhausted from the rear end of said body forpropelling the balloon, guide flns carried by said body for guiding thesame in the direction aimed, said body comprising an elongated forwardcylindrical portion, the rear end of said cylindrical portionterminating in a spherical portion, said flns tapering towards theirends and terminating-at the forward end of the cylindrical portion andadjacent the transverse center of the spherical portion.

. ANDREW J. ANNIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,561,721 Humphrey Nov. 17, 19252,161,274 Behrend June 6,1939 2,284,193 Platt Sept. 4, 1945 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 396,087 France Nov. 9, 1908 493,086 GermanyFeb. 27, 1929

